Chapter 77: Perception Seal

Compared to the cruel truth, he would rather believe that Zhong Kui is a shaman with superpowers.

However, the truth is often so cruel.

But he had more urgent matters to deal with.

The Zhong family extermination case mentioned by Jiang Tianyi did not appear in the database. He contacted the Baicheng police station and was told that the police officers who handled it back then had either resigned or been transferred, and it had become a completely cold case.

Qi Fei is not the type to give up. He wants to find out what exactly happened to Zhong Xiaoyu.

From Nancheng to Baicheng, it takes four hours by train.

On a snowy day, he boarded the train to Baicheng.

Between Nancheng and Baicheng, mountains are blocked. The train travels through the mountains, covered in white snow, like a fairy tale, but Qi Fei's heart is full of various questions. Why did Zhong Xiaoyu or Zhong Kui escape from the psychiatric hospital, travel thousands of miles to Nancheng, and live in seclusion in Sanwu Town, which is almost isolated from the world?

The reality was even worse than Qi Fei estimated. During the call with the Baicheng police, he was told that the Zhong family's house caught fire shortly after the incident, and the scene was completely destroyed, which was one of the reasons that caused great difficulties for the subsequent investigation.

But Qi Fei didn't expect that the so-called fire could burn the scene so cleanly. The wealthy Zhong Xiaoyu originally lived in a small detached villa in the suburbs of Baicheng. Now, this place was burned to only the wall roots, and weeds were growing. Let alone evidence, even the traces of it being a house were few and far between.

At the Baicheng police station, he saw the only remaining photos at that time. The intensity of the scene exceeded Qi Fei's imagination. He didn't know what it was like for Zhong Xiaoyu to watch her family being tortured and killed in front of her. And he finally knew why Zhong Xiaoyu was ruled out of suspicion of murder early on. Because when Zhong Xiaoyu was discovered, she was tied tightly by the murderer and forced to watch the whole process of the massacre. Because the Zhong family lived in the suburbs, it was discovered three days after the massacre because neighbors complained about the strange smell next door. Zhong Xiaoyu just watched her family's corpses gradually rot at the scene.

Qi Fei couldn't imagine the situation at that time, and didn't dare to imagine. "In this way, Zhong Xiaoyu should know who the murderer is," Qi Fei said with a heavy heart.

"Yes, but it is said that she was mentally deranged when she was discovered. No matter who talked to her, she had no reaction. We tried many methods, but we couldn't make her recover. Because all her family members were dead and there was no place to take her in, we had no choice but to send her to the Baicheng Psychiatric Hospital. It's just that no one expected her to disappear later. As soon as Zhong Xiaoyu disappeared, we lost the only eyewitness to this case, so after so many years, this case still has no clue."

"Fingerprints? DNA?"

"The murderer was very cautious and left no useful biological information at the scene. This is also a point that puzzles us. Judging from the modus operandi, the murderer was in a violent state, but was so calm that he could eliminate all evidence."

At the Baicheng Psychiatric Hospital, the doctor who treated Zhong Xiaoyu back then talked to Qi Fei, still fresh in his memory: "Zhong Xiaoyu, this patient, is too special. She is a famous genius in our industry. She was already a world-class expert at a young age, which gave us unprecedented challenges in the treatment process. Mental illness is different from other diseases. It requires the cooperation of the patient. However, Zhong Xiaoyu can be said to be immune to all treatment methods. Her psychological defense is too stubborn. I even suspect..."

Speaking of this, the doctor suddenly fell silent.

"What is it?" Qi Fei pressed.

The doctor sighed and continued: "I suspect she is not suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. This is a passive psychological injury. She closed her own perception system, and no one can open it except herself."

"You mean, could she have multiple personalities?"

"Zhong Xiaoyu?" The doctor was slightly surprised to hear Qi Fei say this, "I had no intersection with her before, or rather, I couldn't reach the point of knowing her. But judging from the situation I treated, there should be no such situation. However, Zhong Xiaoyu herself is an expert in multiple personalities. If you are interested, you can read her works, which have very creative insights."

Everything was developing in a direction beyond Qi Fei's imagination. All the secrets seemed to be sealed with Zhong Xiaoyu's perception, and no one knew.

With a complicated mood, Qi Fei returned to Nancheng from Baicheng.

Since the end of the Guiyue Apartment case, Zhong Kui disappeared again as usual, probably back to Sanwu Town.

This time he didn't rely on the "key" in his memory to find Zhong Kui in Zizai Shan, but found Jiang Tianyi again.

"I want to read Zhong Xiaoyu's book, but the ones searched online are all off the shelves. Dr. Jiang, do you have it here?" Qi Fei couldn't wait to ask as soon as he entered the door.

Jiang Tianyi was very surprised: "How do you know about Xiaoyu's works?"

"I went to Baicheng..."

A trace of surprise flashed on Jiang Tianyi's face, then he pushed his gold-rimmed glasses: "Why are you so interested in Zhong Xiaoyu?"

"Haha, old reason, asking is because it's under investigation..." Qi Fei made a fool of himself. He is not an expert in psychology, but he understands criminal investigation. Although he couldn't get exact information, the possibility of an acquaintance committing the crime in Zhong Xiaoyu's case was very high.

He couldn't trust anyone, including Zhong Xiaoyu's fellow apprentice Jiang Tianyi.

Jiang Tianyi sighed: "You can't find her book. This book was criticized by our academic circles as a cult classic and existed with huge controversy itself. After Zhong Xiaoyu's accident, there was a saying that it was because her theory induced a patient's mental perversion, leading to her whole family being killed. After the tragedy, her book was banned."

"Dr. Jiang, have you read that book?"

"I haven't."

After Qi Fei left Jiang Tianyi's studio, Jiang Tianyi sat in his seat for a long time, and his mood seemed to be unable to calm down for a long time.

After a while, he finally stood up from his seat, walked to his bookshelf, took out the books in front, and took out a white-covered blue-lettered book from the innermost part, with the title "Splitting Illusions: The Boundary of Psychological Defense", author: Zhong Xiaoyu...

Qi Fei, who hadn't gone far, received a call from Liu Tong, asking him to go to him after returning to the police station.

As soon as Qi Fei entered the door, Liu Tong asked straight to the point: "I heard you went to Baicheng?"

"Yes, I went to investigate Zhong Kui," Qi Fei didn't hide it either.

"You cannot investigate this person," Liu Tong's tone was gentle, but the content was very direct. ===== CHAPTER 78 =====